THE WALLS CAME TUMBLING DOWN
The Sunnyvale Town Center is quickly being reduced to a pile of rubble as Devcon, the demolition contractor, makes quick work of clearing the downtown redevelopment site. As of press time, nearly the entire old mall had been leveled, with work beginning of removing the old JC Penney building. In mid-June, the WHL building, a fixture on Mathilda Avenue just south of the Mozart buildings, was demolished.
Sunnyvale Mixed Use, LLC, the development name adopted by partners Sand Hill Property Management and RREEF, also received the necessary permits from the City to begin excavating for the future underground garages. As of press time, the excavation on the west side of Target was finished, and the excavation west of Macy’s was nearing completion. Fifty trucks have been making 300 trips a day to haul out dirt from the excavations, which should be completed in the next few weeks.
In keeping with the demolition mitigation plan, Devcon has been using water trucks to keep construction dust to a minimum, and sweeper trucks have been cleaning Washington, Mathilda and Iowa of any dirt from the project.
Meanwhile, the developer has submitted plans for Phase 1 street improvements, including street tree wells, sidewalks and street lights. Plans for Washington/Mathilda intersection improvements were also submitted. The City is holding weekly meetings with the developers and the demolition company to ensure plans are met and any difficulties are resolved as quickly as possible.
The City has also been working hard to keep the community informed of progress on the construction site. Updates and photographs are frequently updated on both the City’s Web site, www.sunnyvale.ca.gov, and KSUN-15, Sunnyvale’s government-access television station. In addition, the City hosted a June 28 open house display at Plaza del Sol, featuring photographs of the demolition work, design plans, and representatives from the developer, the demolition contractor and the City.